Welcome to the blog!

This post is the launch of a new feature on Chapter 3 Ministries! I’m calling it "Do You Take This Verse?". The name is a play-on-words that brings together what has been traditionally asked during a marriage ceremony (Do you take this woman/man?) with the idea of living out Bible verses in our marriages. [...]

2015 promises to be a year to remember. This year our oldest is getting married and graduating from college and our youngest is graduating from High School. In case you are wondering, we only have two. :) I have oftentimes affectionately referred to them as “my bookends”. I came up with this years ago because of the way they used to flank me on the couch when we were saying goodbye to their papa whenever he left to photograph a wedding. We have a couch right in front of a picture window that overlooks our driveway. As my husband was heading out, we would all kneel on the couch, with me in the middle, and watch as he got in his van and drove away. We would wave, tell him we loved him in sign language, and then pray for his safe return. I cherish those memories and hold tightly to them as this new year starts. [...]

The new year will be here soon! It’s not too late to start thinking about whether or not you would like to start a Bible reading plan in 2015. I enjoy plans. They help me to be more regular with my reading.
Not all reading plans are the same. Though many are geared towards reading through the whole Bible in a year, there are more options available. There are some that will extend the reading out for two or three years or shorten it considerably. I once went through the Bible in six months. To be honest, it wasn’t planned. I was pregnant and suffering with “morning” sickness so badly that all I could do was read! Some plans focus on just parts of the Bible like the gospels, the Old or New Testament, or bring you through the same books more than once. Plans can also go through the books in the order they appear in the Bible or go through the Bible in the order that things took place chronologically in history. I prefer the latter. [...]

This is Part Two of my review of Beth Moore’s September 13, 2014 Living Proof Life Simulcast streamed from Fort Wayne, Indiana. You may read Part One here. I recommend reading them in order. This part of my review takes a look at Beth Moore’s problematic practices of Bible interpretation. The kinds of problems that exist are the practices of eisegesis, proof texting, and the allegorizing of the scriptures. I became aware of these problems when I first grew more familiar with her and her ministry back in August. If you have been following my posts about this you might remember that I decided to learn more about her because our local church was going to be hosting a Living Proof Life Simulcast. Since I had only heard her name and was unfamiliar with her material, I decided it might be a good idea to check things out. I did some research which lead me to articles that listed a number of problems including those in the Bible interpretation category. [...]

Counterfeiting is alive and well in America and across the world. The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), an organization dedicated to fighting counterfeiting and safeguarding intellectual property, reports that the Department of Homeland Security confiscated counterfeit goods worth more than $1.7 billion at our borders in Fiscal Year 2013. The coalition also reports that counterfeiting is a major problem worldwide.¹ When I think of counterfeiting, I immediately think of money; but all sorts of goods are also counterfeited including car parts, handbags, watches, and jewelry. I wonder if 3D printing technology will open up a whole new world for counterfeiters. If so, the government and the IACC are going to be quite busy.
Being aware that there are fakes out there can go a long way in protecting us from being taken. This is true not only for consumer products but also for matters of faith. We need to look out for counterfeit Christianity. [...]

With 66 books, 1,189 chapters, and 31,102 verses¹, the Bible is a considerable read. I have seen word counts of approximately 780,000.² War and Peace “only” has 561, 304 words!³ Have you read The Hobbit and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy? Combined they are only 576,459 words.³ The Bible exceeds this by over 200,000 words! The Bible is a thick book, but it is wonderful. It contains words of eternal life and the greatest story ever told.
Since the Bible is so big, it is helpful to have resources that summarize things for us. [...]

How important is it to you that your Bible is an accurate translation of the manuscript copies of the Old and New Testament texts? Very? Good. The collective books of the Bible, accurately translated from the manuscript copies of the original inspired texts, are a special revelation from God. In them we learn things we cannot learn from within ourselves or from nature. Though creation reveals aspects of God’s power and nature (Romans 1:20), it does not tell us that there is only one God and that he is triune. [...]

I’m a skeptic. Always have been. I’ve long had the habit of asking “Where did you hear that?” when someone shares “a fact” that seems suspect. My skepticism sometimes makes me wonder how I ever became a Christian. Well, I know the answer to that question actually. God did it. It wasn’t easy, at least from my perspective; but that’s a story for another time. Right now I’d like to share how my skepticism is valuable in my life as a Christian. [...]